The large and increasing volume of coin-operated machines makes the rapid and accurate sorting and counting of coins an economic necessity. Vending machines, metropolitan area transit systems, pay telephones, and other coin-operated devices have expanded the use of coins and the requirements for economical counting of coins beyond all expectations.
Several machines have been designed for this purposed, exemplified by those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,906,276 (to Blanchette et al.), 3,795,252 (to Black), 4,086,928 (to Ristvedt et al.), and 4,111,216 (to Brisebarre). Each has coin-sorting by centrifugal force according to denomination, counting of the individual denominations by some type of sensing means, and storing and display of the information about the counts during the process. Each also provides for storing and removal of the coins after counting.
In such machines, the centrifugal force is imparted to the coins by the rotation of a disc onto which coins are delivered in bulk, usually through a central hopper. The coins are then guided to deliver them to a position adjacent a peripheral retaining rim of the disc. At the peripheral rim, the coins are selectively engaged according to denomination by one of a plurality of engagement means such as wheels, blades, cams or the like positioned around the peripheral rim. The engagement means depresses or lifts the coins to free them from the peripheral rim of the disc and allows the centrifugal force to hurl them through the air to one of a plurality of corresponding catching devices. The coins are then diverted to appropriate collecting bags. The sorting is typically accomplished by the engagement means based upon the differences in diameter of the various denominations of coins being processed. Conventional engagement means require the coins to be in a single-layer, single-file row at the peripheral rim to avoid malfunctioning of the machine and to insure a proper count. The count is usually made by photoelectric means which sense the number of coins entering each catching device.
The speed at which such machines can sort and count coins is dependent in large part on the ability of the machine to supply coins from the central area of the disc to the peripheral rim. Since the coins are dumped in bulk into the hopper with random orientation, it becomes critical that the coins be properly oriented, arranged in a single layer, and positioned in a single file at the peripheral rim of the disc for engagement by the engagement means. If the process of orienting, arranging and positioning the coins is not accomplished efficiently, the supply of the coins to the engagement means will not be continuous and the operating speed of the machine will be slowed down. Similarly, if the coins get jammed and their flow blocked to the peripheral rim, not only may the flow of coins to the engagement means be noncontinuous, but the jam may cause a drag to be placed on the rotating disc which will decrease its rotational speed and affect the operating speed of the machine. A sufficiently large jam of coins may even stall the rotating disc, requiring disassembly of the machine to clear the jam. In any event, a jam may result in an improper count of coins with some remaining in the machine after the counting is believed complete.
In the past, many of these problems have been handled with the use of guides arranged on a head which is positioned immediately above the rotating disc. Such guides are shown in the Ristvedt et al. and Blanchette et al. patents. The problem of removing one coin from a pair of vertically stacked coins was partially solved in the Brisebarre and Black patents by the use of a ring or strip which presents an edge wall spaced above the rotating disc to knock off a top coin of a pair of stacked coins. The edge wall is spaced far enough above the rotating disc to let the thickest single coin pass thereunder, but yet low enough to allow only one of the thinnest coins to pass under the edge wall at a time. In other words, a vertical stack of two or more of the thinnest coins will not pass under the edge wall and the top coins will be knocked off the stack. This presupposes that the height of a stack of two of the thinnest coils being handled by the machine is appreciably larger than the thickness of the thickest coin being processed by the machine. If the stack of the thinnest coins is equal to or less than the thickness of the thickest coin, the edge wall will pass over the stack of two thin coins and fail to knock off the top coin. With United States coins currently in circulation, a stack of two dimes is approximately equal to the thickness of a half-dollar. As such, it becomes difficult to avoid having a pair of stacked dimes reach the engagement means, and care must be taken to avoid processing a mixture of coins having dimes and half-dollars. The same problems are encountered when processing coinage of other nations.
The use of such an edge wall causes other problems even when only processing coins with a thickness less than the height of a double stack of the thinnest coins, such as quarters and Susan B. Anthony dollars United States coinage, because coins which are not laying completely flat immediately prior to passing under the edge wall as a result of machine vibration or otherwise, may be engaged by the edge wall. The blocked coin must then be diverted away and recirculated through the machine. This tends to slow up the machine and disrupt its smooth operation, particularly when the edge wall is positioned between the head and the rotating disc along the path of travel of the coins.
It will therefore be appreciated that there has been a significant need for a queueing head for such high-speed coin-sorting and counting apparatus which is able to properly orient, arrange into a single layer, and position in single file coins of various thicknesses. The present invention fulfills this need and provides other related advantages.